Lower back entry body suit

ABSTRACT

A lower back entry body suit consists of a one piece body having a front, a back, a torso covering upper portion and a lower portion that extends from waist to ankle dividing to define a first leg and a second leg. An access entry is provided into the body suit extending part way up the first leg, across the back, and part way down the second leg. This is the only access entry location on the body for the user to don or doff the body suit.

FIELD

There is described a body suit that was originally designed as animmersion suit for water activities. It has become apparent that, ifmade out of suitable materials, the suit would also be suitable for drysuit undergarments and similar one piece garments such as snowmobile,motorcycle and ski suits.

BACKGROUND

A common problem encountered with one piece body suits is difficultydonning and doffing the suit as well as the bulk and location of thezipper restricting mobility.

SUMMARY

There is provided a lower back entry body suit which consists of a onepiece body having a front, a back, a torso covering upper portion and alower portion that extends from waist to ankle dividing to define afirst leg and a second leg. An access entry is provided into the bodysuit extending part way up the first leg, across the back, and part waydown the second leg. This is the only access entry location on the bodyfor the user to don or doff the body suit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features will become more apparent from the followingdescription in which reference is made to the appended drawings, thedrawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intendedto be in any way limiting, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a rear elevation view of a lower back entry dry suit.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the lower back entry dry suitillustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of the lower back entry dry suitillustrated in FIG. 1, with the user's legs inside the suit.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the lower back entry dry suitillustrated in FIG. 1, with the user inside the suit, preparing theclose the dry zipper.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view of the lower back entry dry suitillustrated in FIG. 1, with the user inside the suit and the dry zipperclosed.

FIG. 6 is a rear elevation view of a variation where the suit is a drysuit undergarment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A lower back entry body suit will now be described with reference toFIG. 1 through 5.

Structure and Relationship of Parts:

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, of a one piece body 4 having a front 5,a back 7, a torso covering upper portion 9 and a lower portion 11 thatextends from waist to ankle dividing to define a first leg 11A and asecond leg 11B. Referring to FIG. 1, an access entry 13 is provided intobody suit 4 extending part way up first leg 11A, across back 7, and partway down second leg 11B. Access entry 13 is the only access location onone piece body 4 for the user to don or doff the body suit. There willnow be described the lower back entry body suit, where one piece body 4is in the form of a dry suit.

Referring to FIG. 2, a user 2 is shown wearing dry suit 4. When the bodysuit is a dry suit, there are provided a neck seal 6, wrist seals 8 andankle seals 10.

Referring to FIG. 1, for other uses, access entry 13 may not have aclosure or may have buttons, snaps or forms of closure that are notwater proof. When used as a dry suit 4, a water proof closure isessential. The closure illustrated is a dry zipper 12 disposed in aninverted U shape over the lower back and upper rear leg region 16 on thedry suit 4 with a dry zipper slider 14 that allows for opening andclosing of dry zipper 12.

In order to better explain the preferred positioning of dry zipper 12, abroken line 32 has been placed at the bottom of a crotch 33 and a brokenline 34 has been at knee joint 35 representing. Broken line 34represents an axis of rotation of the knee. It is preferred that dryzipper 12 does not extend to or below line 34, the axis of rotation ofthe knee. If dry zipper 12 were to extend below line 34, there wouldpotentially be discomfort in knee joint 35. It is preferred that thesection of the dry zipper 36 that is located between line 34 and line 32is straight.

Referring to FIG. 3, the user 2 is depicted as having partially donneddry suit 4 by entering through the opened dry zipper 12, with his legsinside the dry suit and his feet pushed through the ankle seals 10.

Referring to FIG. 4, the user 2 has further donned dry suit 4 with handspushed through the wrist seals 8 and head pushed through the neck seal 6and his hand preparing to pull the dry zipper slider 14 to close the dryzipper 12.

Referring to FIG. 5, a user 2 has donned a dry suit 4 and closed dryzipper 12. Broken line 30 represents an out-seam line which is theseparation between front 5 and back 7 of dry suit 4. Dry zipper 12 doesnot pass over out-seam line 30 onto front 5 of dry suit 12.

Operation:

Referring to FIG. 1, access entry 13 extends part way up first leg 11A,across back 7, and part way down second leg 11B. When used as a drysuit, access entry 13 is closed with a dry zipper 12. Referring to FIG.3, access entry 13 allows user 2 easy access into dry suit 4 by firstplacing his legs through the opened inverted U shaped dry zipper 12,located on the lower back and upper rear leg region 16. This can be donein a sitting or standing position. Referring to FIG. 4, once user 2 haspushed his feet through the ankle seals 10 he then bends forwards andgoes hand first through the opened inverted U shaped dry zipper 12,located on the lower back and upper rear leg region 16, and pushes hishands through the wrist seals 8 and then pushes his head through theneck seal 6. As the user 2 sits up or straightens up his body, dry suit4 slides into position covering the users body. The user 2 can noweasily grasp the dry zipper slider 14 and close the dry zipper 12.

As previously described, it is preferred that dry zipper 12 stops aboveline 34, which represents the axis of rotation of knee joint 35. If dryzipper 12 were to extend below line 34, there would potentially bediscomfort in knee joint 35. As the position of the dry zipper is awayfrom the user's upper body, arms and knees it does not impede movementor mobility and it allows user 2 to wear accessories, backpacks, airtanks, etc. without interference from the dry zipper 12.

Variations:

Referring to FIG. 6, a variation is illustrated in which the one piecebody is a dry suit undergarment 18 that has a closure in the form of azipper 20. Zipper 20 is disposed in an inverted U shape over the lowerback and upper rear leg region 16 on dry suit undergarment 18 with azipper slider 22 that allows for opening and closing zipper 20. Aspreviously described in relation to dry suit 4, line 32 is at the bottomof crotch 33 and line 34 is at the axis of rotation of knee joint 35. Itis preferred that zipper 20 does not extend below line 34, the axis ofrotation of the knee. It is preferred that the section of the zipper 38that is located between line 34 and line 32 is straight. Dry suitundergarment 18 is worn in the same manner as has been described abovein relation to dry suit 4.

There has previously been described use as a dry suit 4. It will beappreciated that any immersion suit for water sports can be made withdry suit seals in the regions of the neck, wrists and ankles, identifiedin the Figures as neck seal 6, wrist seals 8 and ankle seals 10. It willalso be appreciated that soft socks can be used in place of ankle seals10.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in itsnon-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included,but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to anelement by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibilitythat more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearlyrequires that there be one and only one of the elements.

The scope of the claims should not be limited by the illustratedembodiments set forth as examples, but should be given the broadestinterpretation consistent with a purposive construction of the claims inview of the description as a whole.

1-7. (canceled)
 8. A lower back entry body suit comprising: a one piecebody having a front, a back, a torso covering upper portion and a lowerportion that extends from waist to ankle and divided to define a firstleg and a second leg, and a sole access entry into the body suitextending part way up the first leg, across the back at or above thewaist, and part way down the second leg.
 9. The lower back entry bodysuit of claim 8, wherein the access entry terminates above a knee jointregion on both the first leg and the second leg.
 10. The lower backentry body suit of claim 9, wherein a closure closes the access entry.11. The lower back entry body suit of claim 10, wherein the closure is azipper.
 12. The lower back entry body suit of claim 11, wherein thezipper is a water-proof dry zipper.
 13. The lower back entry body suit fclaim 8, wherein the one piece body is a dry suit undergarment.
 14. Thelower back entry body suit of claim 12, wherein the one piece body is adry suit.